Donna, the Australian, started in 1996, so she's in her 29th year of this job. However, there's no telling how long the tenures of the previous Brit and Canadian were. We don't know if they go back to 1964 when the Shinkansen began. My point was that the tone and style of the female announcer that I heard back in the 70s was even more austere in its accent, tone, and composure that I had a hard time imagining a non-Japanese filling the announcer role back then. I did a cursory online search about Shinkansen announcer history but found nothing that answered this question. Just curious, but perhaps someone here knows.